The main purpose of the core is to assist individual projects with biochemical analysis and mass spectrometry; to aid in the identification, characterization, and quantification of aldehyde metabolites (Project I & III) and protein-aldehyde adducts (Project I, Il, & IV). The core will also assist in proteomic analysis of aldehyde metabolizing enzymes (Project I) and cardiac protein involved in signat transduction (Project IV) and lipoproteins. Some of the techniques that will be provided are: Quantitative HPLC analysis, Electrospray and nanospray ionization mass spectrometry, Matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI) mass spectrometry, and Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.